


What Happens in Empire City Never Sleeps

by Dawnfire321



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Domestic Violence, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Roommates, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:40:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24767098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dawnfire321/pseuds/Dawnfire321
Summary: "If you moved to Empire City, you could be a single gem taking on the big city. You could get a job at a coffee shop and come home to a wacky roommate..."Lapis Lazuli was not pleased when she had to move in with her old high school rival, Peridot, but she had to move out and had no better options. Lapis vows that she will not be friends with Peridot, that she will not like her at all, despite living together. After a few months of living together, the scrappy little auto mechanic begins to grow on Lapis. Until she meets Jasper.
Relationships: Garnet/Pearl (Steven Universe), Jasper/Lapis Lazuli (Steven Universe), Lapis Lazuli/Peridot (Steven Universe)
Kudos: 23





	1. Chapter One- Lapis

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing Steven Universe fan fiction. This is going to be a somewhat lengthy story, and I can't guarantee frequent updates. The endgame is Lapidot. Look at the end of chapter notes for trigger warnings. I appreciate any and all comments or constructive criticisms. Please leave kudos if you like the story!

##  Chapter One- Lapis

When Lapis saw the ad for a roommate online she thought it would be the perfect fit. A mechanic and engineering student looking for a clean, quiet roommate. Fully furnished, located in downtown Empire City. Rent $1200 a month, utilities, wi-fi, and netflix included. The rent was almost out of her budget, but with the location and utilities included it was well worth the price. All the other places she’d looked at had stuffed three or four people into a two bedroom for the same price. Just one roommate, in the center of the city? That was the next best thing ti living alone. 

When she’d read the words “mechanic and engineering student” she’d pictured a tall, buff woman. The quiet and clean part made her think of, well, a quiet and clean person. This little fireball of energy was not at all what she pictured. Lapis couldn’t help but stare when her perspective roommate opened the door. “You!”

“Lapis?” Peridot said. “I didn’t know you’d moved to Empire City.” 

“I’m sorry, this isn’t going to work.” Lapis turned and started to leave. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t made the connection between Peridot, the roommate from the ad, and Peri, her high school tormenter. 

Before she’d made it three steps down the hallway she felt a hand wrap around her wrist. “Look, Lazuli,” Peridot cut Lapis off before she could start her angry rant. “I know we had a rough time in high school together, but that was a lifetime ago.”

“Seven years-” Lapis started. 

“You seemed really excited about the place when we spoke on the phone. Isn’t it worth it to come in and take a look around. You said you needed to be out of your current place in the next week.” 

Lapis nodded reluctantly. Once again, Peridot grabbed her wrist and pulled her inside. 

The inside of the apartment was exactly how she would have imagined it. The living room and dining area were covered with half built machines, partially completed projects. A stack of textbooks and papers were strewn about the coffee table. The TV was on, Lapis didn’t recognize the show. The surprisingly spacious kitchen was the only part of the living area that was clean. It was nearly immaculate, looking as though no one had ever cooked in it. 

“So this is the living area. I know it’s a little crazy, but I promise that if you move in I’ll be much neater. The bathroom and bedrooms are through here.” 

Lapis followed Peridot to the back of the apartment. The bathroom was nice, shower/bath combo, two sinks. 

“This would be your bedroom.” 

Peridot opened the door to a small bedroom. There was a double bed taking up most of the floor space. A dresser and desk were also crammed into the room. There was one small window, blinds instead of curtains. The room also had a nice walk in closet. It was the ideal apartment, with the worst possible roommate. 

“What’s that sound?” Lapis said. 

Peridot looked away. “That’s the 24-hour market downstairs. They hardly get business at night, and it’s easy to get used to. I know moving in with me isn’t ideal. I’d completely understand if you wanted to keep looking,”

Lapis sighed and closed her eyes. If she was honest with herself, she didn’t really have many other options. She had two weeks left before her lease was up, no other affordable places. Could she really deal with living with her old high school bully? “Can I think about it? Get back to you in a day or so?”

“Sure.” Peridot’s response was quick, like she’d been anticipating the question. 

*

“So, what’re you gonna do?” Nephrite’s voice was barely audible over the whir of the coffee grinder, the clamor of customers, and the coffee shop favorites spotify playlist. 

“I don’t know,” Lapis admitted. She turned back to the register. “What can I get for you?”

“Can I get a grande matcha green tea frappuccino, caffeine free, hot?” 

Lapis eyed the woman at the register. She couldn’t decide what part of the order to address first. Finally she just said, “This isn't Starbucks. We don’t have frappuccinos.”

“Well, what do you have?” The woman said impatiently. 

Lapis just pointed to the huge menu sign above her head. While the woman studied the menu she said to Nephrite, “If it weren’t her, it’d be the perfect place to live. I haven’t found anywhere else in my price range, unless I want to share a room.” 

“Can I just get an iced coffee?” 

Lapis wrote the order on the cup and passed it to Nephrite. 

“Maybe you should move in with her.” Nephrite took the cup and started making the drink. 

“What can I get for you?” Lapis said to the next customer. She took the order and passed the cup to Nephrite. “Why should I move in with her? She made my senior year hell.”

“That was almost eight years ago, Lapis. Maybe she’s changed. Large, hot vanilla latte for Carol!” 

“I don’t think people like her are capable of change.” Lapis grabbed the sanitizer cloth and started wiping down the counters. 

“You can’t just decide you hate someone before you get to know them, Lapis.” Nephrite poured more coffee beans into the espresso machine. “You don’t really have any other options, unless you want to move in with your cousin. Get to know this Peridot before you decide you hate her.”

Two days later, Lapis moved in with Peridot. 


	2. Chapter Two- Peridot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot tries to mend bridges

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Two! Much later than I wanted, but much sooner than could be expected. If the chapters seem a little short, it's because I am starting a new chapter with each POV switch. Please leave kudos or comment! No trigger warnings for this chapter.

##  Chapter Two- Peridot

Lapis was an easy roommate. Once Lapis had moved in, Peridot only saw her twice during their first week together. The first time was in the middle of the night while leaving the shared bathroom. The second time Peridot was cooking in the kitchen and Lapis came in to get a glass of water. Peridot could count the words Lapis had spoken to her on one hand. “Hi,” “Yes,” “No,” and “Not now.” One of them would have to give, and Peridot determined that it would have to be her. 

Peridot stood outside Lapis’s door, rehearsing her speech in her head. She reached out a hand, fingers curled in a fist. Her fist was inches from the door, ready to knock. She hesitated. Before Peridot could find the courage, the door swung open. “What are you doing?” 

“I was knocking.” Peridot dropped her hand and took a miniscule step back. 

“I know that,” Lapis rolled her eyes and looked somewhere over Peridot’s left shoulder. “I mean, why are you here? What do you want?”

Lapis was actually talking . That was a good sign. “I wanted to talk to you. We haven’t really had a conversation yet, and wee live together and I just thought that-”

“We live together, Peridot. We aren’t friends. Could you move, I have to go to work.” Lapis didn’t wait for Peridot to step away, she just pushed past and was out the front door before Peridot could say “bye.”

*

Peridot ghosted through her glasses and her shift at the garage. She just couldn’t get this Lapis thing out of her head. How could Peridot turn things around. She knew she’d been horrible to Lazuli when they were in high school. Peridot had tormented her. Lazuli was an easy target, a loner, no friends, a bit weird. Those same descriptors could be used for high school Peridot as well. She’d chosen to be Lazuli’s bully for no reason other than the acceptance from the more popular kids. Peridot would get boosted up the ranks every time she pushed Lazuli down. 

How could she come back from that? How could she show Lapis that college and adult life had changed her, and changed her for the better? 

Peridot couldn’t be sure what went on during her classes that day. She helped out at the garage, during mostly grunt work, which gave her far too much time to think. She’d planned to go to Target after her shift, but she couldn’t remember what she’d wanted to buy. Peridot wandered the aisles absently. She wove through the arts and crafts section, thinking maybe a gift would go over well. Lapis had been into art, if Peridot could remember correctly. Target wasn’t really the best place to find art supplies, so Peridot just continued to the next section.

The next section was full of birthday cards, thank you cards, graduation cards. And apology cards. That gave Peridot an idea. She didn’t buy any of the cards on display. She went back to the art supplies section. 

*

Peridot wanted to give the card to Lazuli personally, but she was sure if she tried that Lazuli wouldn’t take it. So while Lapis was at work, Peridot slipped the card underneath her door. Then she went into the living room to watch Camp Pining Hearts and wait. 

When Lapis came home, Peridot pretended to ignore her. She hit “next episode” on the tv, without paying attention. It didn’t take long for Lazuli to notice the card. 

“What is this?” Lapis demanded. 

Peridot turned around, kneeling on the couch and peering over the back to look at her roommate. “It’s a card. To say I’m sorry for everything.”

Lapis waved the card in front of Peridot’s face. There was a very impressive drawing of the two of them on the front. “Why would you think a card would make up for everything you’ve done to me?”

“I thought it was a nice gesture…” Peridot was suddenly unsure about the card. The artwork probably wasn’t her best, and Lazuli was an artist. Looking at it at that moment Peridot thought the drawing looked rather childish. Like something a preschooler would bring home to a parent. 

“Dear Lazuli, I’m sorry I was so mean to you before. You were just an easy target. Let’s be friends,” Lapis spit the words out rather than reading them. She’d spent hours working on the card. “We are not, and never will be, friends. I’m only living here until I find somewhere better.” 

Peridot wouldn’t have felt so hurt if Lapis had slapped her. “Why won’t you give me a chance? I’m a different person now, Lazuli.”

“Goodnight, Peridot.” Lapis didn’t storm out of the room. She walked away calmly. Instead of the expected door slam there was only the soft click of the latch. 

Now Peridot knew that a card wasn’t the way to go. She just had to hope that her card hadn’t made things worse between them. 


	3. Chapter Three- Lapis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter. I can't think of any warnings for this chapter, but please let me know if anything bothers you. Please leave kudos and comment!

##  Chapter Three- Lapis

A twist here, a nudge there. Tuck that in, pull that out. 

Lapis stepped back from her newest creation and frowned. Her sculptures never looked like how she imagined them. She couldn’t decide if this incarnation of her mind’s vision was different for better or worse. Finally she gave a little shrug and set it aside until it could be brought to the storage unit. Lapis sat on her bed and ran her hand along her comforter in slow circles. She leaned back onto the bed and closed her eyes with a sigh. A little smile came to her face, the quiet stillness and the satisfaction of completing another project bringing her peace. The peace felt foreign to her, the strangeness of the uncommon emotion almost shattering itself. Of course the moment was shattered anyway. 

“Lazuli! Lazuli, are you in there?” Peridot’s words were accompanied by a frenzied pounding on the door. 

Maybe if Lapis stayed very quiet and very still Peridot would go away. It had yet to work, but neither had direct confrontation. The knocking stopped.

“Lazuli, I know you are ignoring me, and I understand. You don’t want to be friends, and while I can’t say I get it, I’ll respect it. But we have to live together, for now, so can’t we just make peace? Bury the hatchet? You don’t have to like me, you don’t have to talk to me.” Peridot’s voice caught as she spoke the last sentence. 

There was a soft thud, as though Peridot was now leaning her head against the door. Lapis could picture her, looking dejected and sad and pathetic as she begged a closed door for forgiveness. Lapis felt a flash of satisfaction that she’d made Peridot hurt, even if it was just a fraction of what Peridot had dealt Lapis. Then Lapis felt a twinge of guilt. The existence of that guilt sickened her. She didn’t want to feel any sort of kinship with Peridot. 

“I know you’ve been hiding in your room all day, I know you only come out to cook at night. Let’s just, I don’t know, exist in the same space? You’re paying rent for the living room and kitchen, not just your bedroom. Think about it, okay?” 

Lapis didn’t open her eyes until she heard Peridot’s retreating footsteps. 

*

Lapis thought about it. As much as she hated to admit it, even to herself, Peridot had been right. When Lapis emerged from her bedroom and walked into the kitchen, it was still daytime, and Peridot was still in the living room on the couch, a textbook open in her lap, the TV playing some ancient looking daytime TV. She went into the kitchen and started making a sandwich. She immediately felt Peridot’s eyes on her back, but Lapis steadfastly ignored her. She toasted her bread, stacked the meat and veggies, spread the mayo. She managed not to look at Peridot through the whole process, but when she couldn’t help but catcht the other woman from the corner of her eye, she saw that she was pointedly looking away as well, but with a small smile on her lips. 

*

It was days like these that made Lapis hate her job. And all the other days. EBut especially days like this. Lapis had never wanted to work in another coffee shop, but all the other full time, decent paying jobs required degrees. Or there were the ones that did not list a required degree but asked for transcripts during the interview process. So here she was, sitting in the very noisy lobby of her shop, surrounded by the lunch crowd, with one of her employees in front of her.

“You’ve been working here for a few months now,” Lapis said to the air just to the left of her employee’s ear. “How do you think it’s been going?”

“And I absolutely love my job here. Everyone is so great, and the managers are nice. This is honestly the best job I’ve ever had.” The young girl said. She looked about sixteen. Lapis remembered her resume. This was the first job the girl had ever had. 

They both knew where this conversation was going. This girl (and Lapis couldn’t even remember her name, and wasn’t that telling) had been in a verbal argument with a regular customer, spilled about as many drinks as she made, messed up recipes three months in. Lapis wasn’t positive if she’d ever seen the girl wash her hands during her shift. With three or four shifts a week for three months, she’d called out or gone home early fourteen times. And this girl just had to make everything harder.

“Do you think that working as a barista is the right job for you? Do you feel like you are a good fit here?” Lapis found that it was easier to fire someone if she made them see why first. 

“I know I haven’t been perfect, but I’m still learning. I know I can do better, and that I’ll be great at my job.” The girl was nodding vigorously now. It made Lapis sick just to look at her.

“Is that really how you see your performance over the last few months? Not perfect? By the time you reach the end of the three month training period we expect our baristas to be done learning the basics.” 

At this point the girl burst into tears. Very dramatic tears. The two of them were getting looks from the other customers. Lapis looked up, then down at the space beside the girl’s other ear. It wasn’t quite an eye roll and she would deny it if anyone called it such. 

“We have to let you go” Lapis looked down at the paper in front of her “Jane. I know how hard getting fired from a first job can be, so we are marking it in our books as a layoff. Getting a new job after getting laid off is easier than after getting fired.”

The girl sobbed harder. 

Lapis pulled the envelope out of her apron pocket. “I have your last paycheck here. You can go home now, and still be paid for the entirety of your scheduled shift today.”

“Can’t I… Can’t I finish my shift today?” Jane’s voice was halting and cracked on the last word. 

Lapis took a deep breath and said “I think it’s better if you go home, don’t you?”

The girl got up and Lapis followed her to the back while she grabbed her stuff. She turned to go. “I need your apron back, Jane.” 

Lapis was already stressed and irritated when she unlocked the front door to the apartment. Her mood got even lower when she saw that Peridot had a guest over. Lapis shut the door very carefully and tried to sneak behind the couch and into her bedroom without being seen. 

“Hey, is this the roommate?” The woman had just had her head stuck in the fridge. She seemed to be taking everything out. Lapis couldn’t imagine what she was making with everything. 

Peridot’s head appeared from behind the couch. “Hey, Lapis. This is my friend Amethyst. She just kinda… showed up.”

“I’m cooking, you want in?” Amethyst dropped her armful of food onto the counter and started sorting it out. 

“No.” Lapis ducked into her room and shut the door before either of the others could respond. 

“Yo, Perry! What’s up with your roommate?” 

Lapis could hear the conversation from the living room through the door.

“She hates me. We knew each other in high school.”

“Why’d she move in with you if she hates you that much?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know why Lazuli does anything, I never did.”

The response was muffled. Lapis was torn between telling them to keep it down, or burying her head under her pillows and drowning them out. She decided on the latter. 

Lapis could have fallen asleep that way, if it weren’t for the smoke alarm. 

The loud, angry beeping was accompanied by a computerized voice saying “fire, fire, fire”. Lapis stood, flung her door open and stormed into the living room, expecting a little bit of smoke from some burnt toast or something. When she entered the living space she was shocked to see an actual fire. Whatever Amethyst had been cooking now had flames over a foot high. Peridot and Amethyst were trying to put it out. Peridot was waving a cloth at it and Amethyst was running back and forth from the sink with a glass of water. Peridot was literally fanning the flames, and the fire killed by Amethyst’s water built back up before she could get the next one.

Lapis went over and turned off the stove, She picked up the entire flaming pan and stuck it under the sinks running water. 

The fire out, the three of them stood in the kitchen, the alarm still going off, a continuous drone of “fire, fire, fire.”

“I didn’t know the fire alarm worked,” Peridot said after a very long pause. 

Lapis couldn’t help it. She laughed.

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger warnings for unhealthy, abusive relationship, mental health problems, domestic violence. If over the course of the story you find anything else that might be triggering please let me know so I can add a warning for it here in chapter 1.


End file.
